First Take: American Made- so high that it’s actually flying

SYNOPSIS:

A pilot lands work for the CIA and as a drug runner in the south during the 1980s.

The last time I seen Tom Cruise on the big screen, it was in The Mummy- the less said about that the better. But time heals all wounds, and now he’s back in a more serious role than usual- but unfortunately I left the newly widened screen 7 feeling slightly underwhelmed.

Doug Liman has taken this true story to the screen in a decent way, it’s not perfect in terms of pacing, but neither is the script from Gary Spinelli to be brutally honest- but it does have some redeeming moments that add some humour to a tale that many people will be turned off by. What we have here is a good telling of a story that seems too bonkers to be a true story. It’s shot well by César Charlone, and the score from Christophe Beck very subtly adds to the ambience.

Understandably Cruise is the star attraction, and even though this isn’t the sort of film to have any stunts, he still puts in some great work and even flies some of the aircraft in this film for real. The supporting cast are brilliant too, with Domnhall Gleeson and Sarah Wright putting in some good work, but even with the starpower, the film just doesn’t feel complete, especially as Netflix’s Narcos touches briefly on these events in its first season.

THE VERDICT

American Made is an alright film as we’d say in these parts of the country- not good, not bad, but it could’ve been better. The performances are solid, the direction is good, but the general pacing could have been improved upon significantly.

RATING: 3.5/5